Today's News

I came across a Dale Carnegie quotation a while back that says a lot more to me now than it might have in the past.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

Since my affiliation with the Optic, my world has widened considerably. Yes, I had my “coterie,” made up of family, work, and social acquaintances, students and their families, and of course, my pal, Chien, the dog.

Thumbs UP for ... ANOTHER YEAR OF GENEROSITY. There are many who give back to our community at this time of the year, but one of our favorites is the annual, and free, Thanksgiving Day meal for all-comers at El Sombrero’s restaurant at 12th and Mills. This year’s meal was the 13th in a row put on by Helen Rivera and his family.

As of this writing we don’t have any up-to-date totals, but last year El Sombrero served up more than 650 meals. That’s a lot of food eaten and considerable money spent. It takes mighty big hearts to make this happen.

Two employees at Robertson High School have been placed on leave for "inappropriate" activities, the superintendent said today.

Superintendent Rick Romero confirmed information that cheerleading coach Krystle King was placed on leave last week for allegations of "inappropriate behavior" and counselor Amadee Duran on suspicion of "inappropriate contact."

When I began to research the budgets of Las Vegas City Schools and West Las Vegas Schools, I thought the financial argument for administrative consolidation was obvious.

I expected that when people knew the combined budgets of just two offices within both districts (superintendent and business offices) totaled nearly $2.6 million in 2008, people would immediately recognize some administrative fat could be trimmed and sent to students and teachers in the classroom.

SANTA ROSA — The family of murder suspect David Levi Chavez thought it had good news when the judge read the jury’s verdict Friday afternoon — not guilty of first-degree murder.

They erupted in loud cheers — prematurely as it turned out.

District Judge Abigail Aragon then announced that the jury had found Las Vegas resident Chavez, 22, guilty of second-degree murder in the 2008 death of 6-year-old Jasmine Garcia. The victim had been sleeping in a house on Las Vegas’ Union Street when she was struck by gunfire.

The remarkable turnaround season of the Robertson football team came to a close Saturday in Socorro, with the host Warriors taking a 7-3 squeaker in the Class 3A state quarterfinals... Socorro QB Esquibel scored the afternoon's lone touchdown on a goal-line plunge with 3:22 left in the first half. Robertson's Keen Martinez nailed a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the half. That was all the scoring in a game dictated by big defensive stands, multiple fourth down conversion attempts, and a number of offensive penalties vs. RHS...

Krystle King and Tamara Naranjo are the head coaches of the 2009 varsity cheerleader squads for the East and West school districts. Both have championship rings and great histories in their own right and lead their perspective squads to do what cheerleaders have always done — lead.

“A cheerleader means taking academics seriously, it means making sure when someone is down, you get them up. It is an honor, a responsibility and a privilege to wear that uniform,” King said.